Monday, February 18, 2013

Today, I'd like to welcome New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham to my blog.

A CHAT WITH HEATHER GRAHAM

AUTHOR OF “LET THE DEAD SLEEP”

Your new book, LET THE
DEAD SLEEP, the theft of a centuries-old sculpture, the carved bust of a
wicked man, sparks a struggle between good and evil. You introduce two compelling characters,
Danni Cafferty, a young woman who inherits an unusual antiques and curio
shop in New Orleans, and Michael Quinn, a private investigator with a
mysterious past. Is this the first
of a new series of Cafferty and Quinn books with the pair battling evil
with the aid of an ancient text?

Yes, thank you! The
team of Cafferty and Quinn will struggle through more ordeals—and how to manage
their relationship, as well.

Like many of your
books, LET THE DEAD SLEEP involves elements of the paranormal and the
ability of human beings to deal with the unknown. What intrigues you so much about the
paranormal?

I love the
possibilities out there. I can be the
world’s worst skeptic, but I’m also curious and ever hopeful. Most of us have lost loved ones—I want to
believe that I will see mine again. If such things are possible, then the world
of what we don’t see all the time just might be possible, too. I love hearing stories and I’ve heard some
really good ones that make you wonder about the power of the human mind—and
soul.

You’ve been on a number
of ghost hunts, ghost tours and walks.
Which ones are your favorites and where is your favorite haunted
place?

I think I’ve loved
them all. Last year (available on On Demand, I believe!) my daughter and I
appeared on “Haunted Encounters” for the Biography Channel. It was for their
half hour segment on the Lizzie Borden house. She played Lizzie and killed me
as Abby and our friend, writer Dennis Cummins, as Andrew Borden. She was great!
But they had me lying right where Abby had been found and Chynna had a real
hatchet. It was pretty creepy!

I also love the
cemeteries (and any place, really) in New Orleans, the Spanish Military
Hospital, St. Augustine, a number of places in Key West, Salem, Massachusetts,
and the Myrtles Plantation, in Louisiana.
There’s a YouTube video up (Heather Graham’s Krewe of Hunters Ghost
Series, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtC2fCOwV9A) from our Myrtles
Plantations trip. We had the whole
plantation to ourselves for a weekend to film and explore. My friends, the Peace River Ghost Trackers,
were with us.

We had a séance once
at the House of Seven Gables. That was amazing! Other places in the world would
include the Tower of London, the Capuchin Monastery church in Rome, the
underground in Edinburgh . . . my list could go on and on.

What was your most
recent ghost hunt?

As I write this, the
Queen Mary. The Peace River Ghost
Trackers arranged for us to have one alone with just a single guard to explore
the ship. We spent a lot of time in the
pool area and beneath the stairs, said to be among the most haunted places on
the ship. It was the most convinced my
daughter ever was that something or someone
else might be there.

A recent survey reports
that six in ten U.S. voters believe in demonic possession, more than a
third believe in ghosts, and 52% believe houses can be haunted but just
47% would be willing to stay in a haunted house overnight (Public Policy
Polling). You’ve stayed in several
haunted houses. What was the most
interesting and do you believe the house was truly haunted?

Most probably the
Lizzie Borden house. The owner, Lee-ann
Wilbur, has done an amazing job refurbishing and refurnishing—areas of the
house look exactly as they looked in pictures taken at the time of the
crimes. She also has a number of
headless mannequins dressed in period clothing throughout the house. Every year after a great conference in Rhode
Island called NECON, I go up to Fall River with a group of writers. We take the entire house for a night. The only time I was the last one to go to
bed, I was moving through the house walking normally, when I suddenly began
running to get to my room. Lee-Ann is a
wonderful hostess and the B and B is beautiful. Whether you’re a believer or
not, it’s a great place to stay.

You’ve written a number of books set in
New Orleans. Why is it such a
perfect location for paranormal stories?

There’s something extremely special about New Orleans. It’s where the documents for the Louisiana
Purchase were signed and it’s been home to about every nationality in the
world. The food is great and just walking down the streets in the French
Quarter you can hear some of the best music in the world. Jackson Square is as filled with life as the
cemeteries are with the essence of death.
I think I especially love the city because you do see every one of every
belief from everywhere in any flesh tone known to man. I love the history
because it’s so rich, and I especially love it because it’s a living history. Lafitte’s old shop is a
bar. Hotels where soldiers were cared for once still stand—and welcome guests.
I love the art, the music, the architecture—you name it!

The location always
seems to come to life in your books, whether it be The Alamo, Salem,
Massachusetts, South Florida and the Keys or New Orleans. The locale almost becomes a character in
the story, just as it does in LET THE DEAD SLEEP. How does location help inspire your
novels as you are developing the story line?

If I love a place, I
try really hard to let a reader see it—and hopefully, love it as I do, or want
to visit! Also, I know in life that
where I grew up influenced me. What we see, feel, live, and touch every day
definitely has a bearing on our view of the world. Some of us love snow and can’t see a
Christmas without it. Some of us are accustomed to having water near by—warm
water in my case!—and can’t imagine life without escaping to the sea. Growing
up, I was lucky. My parents were readers. I read my dad’s war books and a lot
of the histories and novels my mother brought from Ireland—they made we want to
see the places I read about. I hope to do the same—bring a place to life.

A blogger recently
reported that there are over 70 first-run or syndicated television
programs devoted to topics of ghosts, aliens, mediums and psychics airing
in the U.S., England and Canada.
Paranormal romances have become one of the dominant romance novel
sub-genres. What do you believe is
behind their popularity?

We’re mortal—and we don’t want to be! I
think, as well, that most people feel the same way I do—that we must see our
loved ones again. Also, curious but true, the concept of vampires remains sexy,
superpowers, well, we all want them, and as for zombies . . . well, we’re
always afraid that the apocalypse is coming, so you should be ready to fight
off zombies, right?

What are your favorite
ghost/paranormal program on television?
Favorite movie with a paranormal theme?

On television,
“Supernatural” is my favorite.When it comes to movies, I have a few!
“Ghost”—a beautiful story! “The
Frighteners”—funny and creepy. And
popping vampires in there, I’d say “The Lost Boys.”

What is coming up in 2013
after LET THE DEAD SLEEP?

More of the Krewe of
Hunters. They’ll travel to an old theater out west, in Arizona, to a haunted
restaurant in Savannah, and then to Nashville, where a Civil War soldier still
tries to warn others of impending danger! THE NIGHT IS WATCHING is out in June 2013.

11. You write both historical and contemporary
romances. Which do you prefer?

I love them both!
When you are writing an historical novel, you’re dealing with a
different set of values, a different political situation, even a different
moral code dictated by another time. To
make the story work, you have to take all those things into consideration, as
well as everyday things like appropriate dress, the running of a household or
the raising of children, to make the story come alive for the reader.

12. You have five children. What’s the most important thing you have
learned from them?

That your kids really raise you. Children open so many doors. As parents, you meet people you
wouldn’t have met, learn about things you would have missed out on, have
experiences you’d never have had without them. I’ve gotten the inspiration for
books from my kids’ Little League days, a friend of one who is a U.S. Marshall,
one son’s passion for dance—and the love of the mysterious and travel that we
all share. But the most important thing I’ve learned from them is that there is nothing more important than the ones
you love.

13. If you weren’t a writer, what do you think
you’d be doing right now?

My major was theater, so if I hadn’t become a writer,
I would probably be playing one of the witches from Macbeth somewhere in regional theater. Who knows, maybe I’d be on a top soap like
Kelly!

14. What else would you like your readers to know
about you?

That I feel so blessed to be able to do something I
really love to make my living, and it’s the best career in the world with five
kids.

LET THE DEAD SLEEP

by

Heather Graham

An object of
desire? Or fear?

It was stolen from
a New Orleans grave—the centuries old bust of an evil man, a demonic man. It's
an object desired by collectors and by those with wickedness in their hearts. The spine-tingling new novel from HarlequinMIRA,
LET THE DEAD SLEEP (April 2013) by New
York Times bestselling author Heather Graham is the story of one man’s
desire to possess the statue and control its evil powers.

One day, the
current owner of the bust shows up at Danni Cafferty's antiques shop on Royal
Street, the shop she inherited from her father. The woman is desperate to rid herself of the
object, but before Danni can buy the statue, it disappears, the owner is found
dead...and Danni discovers that she's inherited much more than she realized. In
the store is a book filled with secret writing: instructions for defeating evil entities.
She'd dismissed it as a curiosity... until the arrival of this statue, with its
long history of evil and even longer trail of death.

Michael Quinn,
former cop and now private investigator, is a man with an unusual past and a
former colleague of Danni’s father. He
believes that doing the right thing isn't a job-it's a way of life. And the right thing to do is to find and
destroy this object weighted with malevolent powers. He and Danni are drawn together in their
search for the missing statue, following it through sultry New Orleans nights
to hidden places in the French Quarter and secret ceremonies on abandoned
plantations.

Cafferty and Quinn
already know that trust in others can be misplaced, that love can be temporary.
And yet their connection is primal. Mesmerizing. They also know that their
story won't end when this case is closed and the dead rest in peace once again.

Heather Graham has
written more than a hundred novels, many of which have been featured by the
Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild. An avid scuba diver, ballroom dancer and
mother of five, she still enjoys her south Florida home, but loves to travel as
well, from Venice, Italy, Cairo, Egypt, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Boston to
her own backyard, the Florida Keys.

Reading, however,
is the pastime she still loves best, and she is a member of many writing
groups. She's a winner of the Romance Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement
Award, and the Thriller Writers' Silver Bullet. She is an active member of
International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America, and also the
founder of The Slush Pile Players, an author band and theatrical group.

Heather hosts the
annual Writers for New Orleans conference to benefit both the city, which is
near and dear to her heart, and various other causes, and she hosts a ball each
year at the RT Booklovers Convention to benefit pediatric AIDS foundations. For
more information, check out her website: www.eHeatherGraham.com. You can also find
Heather on Facebook.